With historian Mr Allen, accompanying economists Mr Moore-Friis and Mr Esmail, we naturally had to see the imposing statue of Sir Winston Churchill. Our first planned visit was to the Adam Smith Institute where Dr Madsen Pirie explained his think tank’s aims, policies and philosophies. He was keen to stress the virtues of creating wealth, rather than redistributing it, through free trade, tax cuts and abolishing inheritance and capital gains taxes. Students also discussed a number of social and environmental policies. At the Tax Payers’ Alliance we had a very informative talk and Q and A session by research analysts Duncan Simpson and Jeremy Hutton about their policy victories, tax policies and programmes to eliminate government waste and overspending, including public sector fat cat pay. Our final visit was to the Bank of England in the City, exploring monetary policy and financial stability. Students had the opportunity to lift a gold bar worth nearly £400,000.